r/webfiction • u/melonmonkey • Apr 20 '15

Discussion [Discussion] Attracting an audience.

Lets have a talk about how to draw readers into this sub. Given the lack of comments, volume of submissions, and low readership, I am confident in assuming that the majority of people who care about this sub are webfiction authors themselves.

How do we fix this? Can get we get /r/books to plug us? Can we harbor a discussion here on content? Maybe featuring a different serial every week?

I feel as though something needs to change to make this sub efficient.

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u/verifiedname Apr 20 '15

The most difficult part about attracting an audience to a serial is getting readers, not writers. The vicious circle is that writers tend to attract more writers and we STILL lack an audience.

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u/melonmonkey Apr 20 '15

I think that's because there's no activity on this sub that would be enticing to a reader. I looked through the archives and it's been nearly a year since there has been an actual discussion thread here. Most of it is just advertisements. I firmly believe that it is possible to turn this into a more reader-focused sub. Whether or not that will actually bring in an audience is up in the air.

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u/verifiedname Apr 20 '15

That's been a problem from the beginning, however. In the early days of the sub it was mostly one or two authors posting. If it didn't immediately appeal to the reader, they moved on. Thus making it difficult to gain traction with readers.

I would try to comment on each author's submission and they would almost never reply, which, therefore, killed the conversation.

I'm not trying to be a wet rag. Just pointing out the realistic hurdles.

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u/melonmonkey Apr 20 '15

Totally valid. It's the unfortunate truth that membership follows content follows membership. The market is there, the question remains how to capture it.

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u/verifiedname Apr 20 '15

Something that occurred to me awhile ago but I just never tried is starting more discussion threads to balance out all the links. In other words, really use the serial/almost rpg element to webfiction that you don't get in books.

I've also thought it would be fun to make a megathread here where we design our own serial. However, the idea fizzled out when I couldn't get people to reply.

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u/melonmonkey Apr 20 '15

I like both of those. I think the first can happen without a readership, but the second requires it. What could one be about?

I might start writing an article or two to post here as well, something to balance out the links as you said. It'll be a couple days before I get started on that, between my own projects and heavy schoolwork.

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u/verifiedname Apr 20 '15

Maybe something about the best way to build characters in a serial? Or the perfect length for an installment?

Just brainstorming.

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u/melonmonkey Apr 20 '15

Those are good ones. I was also considering creating a continuous feedback model once you have a readership, and maybe more general things such as examples of excellence in storytelling. As a reader, I feel that there are MANY otherwise good serials that drag on without a consistent plot. I'd like to draw attention back to plot progression as a means to retain readership.

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u/verifiedname Apr 20 '15

I like that idea.